Minister: Iran agrees to sell 3m barrels of oil in local currency

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said yesterday that his ministry had agreed to sell three million barrels of crude oil in Iranian rial.

“We have obtained permission and approval from the three heads of power to sell three million barrels of oil on Iran’s energy bourse, in local currency,” state-run IRNA news agency quoted Zangeneh as saying.

“If a person wants to buy oil on the bourse in foreign currencies, oil will be provided in foreign exchange and if a person wants rial-based purchase, the supply will be carried out in rials,” the minister explained.

This comes in an attempt to bypass US sanctions imposed on the country’s oil, energy and gas industry and their products in November.

According to OPEC figures, Iran’s oil output fell by 380,000 barrels per day to 2.954 million bpd in November, compared to 3.333 million bpd the previous month.

Recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund show that Iran needs oil prices to reach $98.6 a barrel this year and $95.4 next year to balance its budget.

Iran is OPEC’s third largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia and Iraq with 3.45 million bpd, and exports nearly two million bpd.

READ: Rouhani presents Iran budget, says US sanctions to hit lives, growth